System and method for targeting transaction account product holders to receive upgraded transaction account products

ABSTRACT

Utilization of information in a closed loop data system further augments modeling while at the same time enabling customization of offers based on spend patterns. Data mining techniques are leveraged to identify rules to determine higher response rate populations. These rules are referred to herein as “triggers,” in that the presence of particular attributes will trigger a cardholder as being more likely to respond to a particular offer. The benefit yielded by this approach is a greater acceptance rate to an offer provided by a transactional account company. To identify the triggers, records of cardmembers who already utilize a given product are analyzed to determine their spend patterns. The spend histories of customers who are eligible to use the product are analyzed according to the identified triggers. Customers whose spend patterns most closely correspond to the triggers are then targeted with offers for the given product.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, U.S. Ser.No. 11/618,329 filed on Dec. 29, 2006 and entitled “SYSTEM AND METHODFOR TARGETING TRANSACTION ACCOUNT PRODUCT HOLDERS TO RECEIVE UPGRADEDTRANSACTION ACCOUNT PRODUCTS,” which is hereby incorporated by referencein its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention is related to marketing, specifically to targetingconsumers to improve marketing.

2. Background Art

As the transactional card industry becomes more competitive, the averagenumber of solicitation offers to customers has risen. This has resultedin declining response rates to offers across the industry. Thetraditional approach to solving the problem rests on econometricmodeling. Typically banks offer a customer a product simply based on aparticular credit profile using primarily internal credit performancedata (for existing customers) or external credit bureau information.What is needed is a system and method for targeting customers that havea demonstrated need, allowing product offers to be made at theappropriate time and improving response rates for the offers.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Utilization of information in a closed loop data system further augmentsmodeling while at the same time enabling customization of offers basedon spend patterns. Data mining techniques are leveraged to identifyrules to determine higher response rate populations. These rules arereferred to herein as “triggers,” in that the presence of particularattributes will trigger a cardholder as being more likely to respond toa particular offer. The benefit yielded by this approach is a greateracceptance rate to an offer provided by a transactional account company.

To identify the triggers, records of cardmembers who already utilize agiven product are analyzed to determine their spend patterns. The spendhistories of customers who are eligible to use the product are analyzedaccording to the identified triggers. Customers whose spend patternsmost closely correspond to the triggers are then targeted with offersfor the given product.

Further embodiments, features, and advantages of the present invention,as well as the structure and operation of the various embodiments of thepresent invention, are described in detail below with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a partof the specification, illustrate the present invention and, togetherwith the description, further serve to explain the principles of theinvention and to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art to makeand use the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for implementing a product targeting method.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example method for targeting customers foran elite card upgrade.

FIG. 3 is a chart illustrating the logic behind life event triggers.

FIG. 4A illustrates the supplementary charge card take rate for variousage ranges for an exemplary presence of extended family trigger.

FIG. 4B illustrates the supplementary charge card take rate for variousage ranges for an exemplary education records of charge trigger.

FIG. 4C illustrates the supplementary charge card take rate for variousage ranges for an exemplary indicators of family trigger.

FIG. 4D illustrates the supplementary charge card take rate for variousage ranges for an exemplary opposite gender sale trigger.

FIG. 5A illustrates the supplementary lending card take rate for variousage ranges for an exemplary presence of extended family trigger.

FIG. 5B illustrates the supplementary lending card take rate for variousage ranges for an exemplary education records of charge trigger.

FIG. 5C illustrates the supplementary lending card take rate for variousage ranges for an exemplary opposite gender sale trigger.

FIG. 5D illustrates the supplementary lending card take rate for variousage ranges for an exemplary indicators of family trigger.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system useful forimplementing the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a chart illustrating the correlation between existing elitecard enrollment and a rate of conversion to an elite card.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating exemplary triggers for various lifeevents.

The present invention will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings. The drawing in which an element first appears istypically indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the correspondingreference number.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION I. Overview

While specific configurations and arrangements are discussed, it shouldbe understood that this is done for illustrative purposes only. A personskilled in the pertinent art will recognize that other configurationsand arrangements can be used without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention. It will be apparent to a person skilled in thepertinent art that this invention can also be employed in a variety ofother applications.

The terms “user,” “end user,” “consumer,” “customer,” “participant,”and/or the plural form of these terms are used interchangeablythroughout herein to refer to those persons or entities capable ofaccessing, using, being affected by and/or benefiting from the tool thatthe present invention provides for improving customer marketing.

Furthermore, the terms “business” or “merchant” may be usedinterchangeably with each other and shall mean any person, entity,distributor system, software and/or hardware that is a provider, brokerand/or any other entity in the distribution chain of goods or services.For example, a merchant may be a grocery store, a retail store, a travelagency, a service provider, an on-line merchant or the like.

1. Transaction Accounts and Instrument

A “transaction account” as used herein refers to an account associatedwith an open account or a closed account system (as described below).The transaction account may exist in a physical or non-physicalembodiment. For example, a transaction account may be distributed innon-physical embodiments such as an account number, frequent-flyeraccount, telephone calling account or the like. Furthermore, a physicalembodiment of a transaction account may be distributed as a financialinstrument.

A financial transaction instrument may be traditional plastictransaction cards, titanium-containing, or other metal-containing,transaction cards, clear and/or translucent transaction cards, foldableor otherwise unconventionally-sized transaction cards, radio-frequencyenabled transaction cards, or other types of transaction cards, such ascredit, charge, debit, pre-paid or stored-value cards, or any other likefinancial transaction instrument. A financial transaction instrument mayalso have electronic functionality provided by a network of electroniccircuitry that is printed or otherwise incorporated onto or within thetransaction instrument (and typically referred to as a “smart card”), orbe a fob having a transponder and an RFID reader. The primarytransaction instrument associated with a transaction account istypically referred to as a “basic” instrument, while additionalinstruments corresponding to the same account are typically referred toas “supplementary” instruments.

2. Open Versus Closed Cards

“Open cards” are financial transaction cards that are generally acceptedat different merchants. Examples of open cards include the AmericanExpress®, Visa®, MasterCard® and Discover® cards, which may be used atmany different retailers and other businesses. In contrast, “closedcards” are financial transaction cards that may be restricted to use ina particular store, a particular chain of stores or a collection ofaffiliated stores. One example of a closed card is a pre-paid gift cardthat may only be purchased at, and only be accepted at, a clothingretailer, such as The Gap® store.

3. Stored Value Cards

Stored value cards are forms of transaction instruments associated withtransaction accounts, wherein the stored value cards provide cashequivalent value that may be used within an existing payment/transactioninfrastructure. Stored value cards are frequently referred to as gift,pre-paid or cash cards, in that money is deposited in the accountassociated with the card before use of the card is allowed. For example,if a customer deposits ten dollars of value into the account associatedwith the stored value card, the card may only be used for paymentstogether totaling no more than ten dollars.

4. Use of Transaction Accounts

With regard to use of a transaction account, users may communicate withmerchants in person (e.g., at the box office), telephonically, orelectronically (e.g., from a user computer via the Internet). During theinteraction, the merchant may offer goods and/or services to the user.The merchant may also offer the user the option of paying for the goodsand/or services using any number of available transaction accounts.Furthermore, the transaction accounts may be used by the merchant as aform of identification of the user. The merchant may have a computingunit implemented in the form of a computer-server, although otherimplementations are possible.

In general, transaction accounts may be used for transactions betweenthe user and merchant through any suitable communication means, such as,for example, a telephone network, intranet, the global, public Internet,a point of interaction device (e.g., a point of sale (POS) device,personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile telephone, kiosk, etc.), onlinecommunications, off-line communications, wireless communications, and/orthe like.

II. Customizing Offers

Collaborative filtering is the process of computing personalizedrecommendations by finding users with similar tastes. When the productis a transactional card, cardmember shopping/spend data can be used toderive product affinity among cardmembers with similar shopping/spendbehaviors so that cardmembers having the highest product affinity can betargeted with offers for that product. For example, cardmembers shoppingat merchants with high conversion rates for a given product will be morelikely to respond to an offer for that product.

A customer spend model can be developed using spend records of customerswho converted to a different product (e.g., upgraded to a higher statustransaction card). The spend records are analyzed to identify patternsof spending behavior that are common across a number of cardmembers. A“trigger” is identified based on those patterns. For example, if a highnumber of customers of a retail establishment convert to the productwithin a few months after shopping at the retail establishment,purchases made at that retail establishment will be identified as atrigger.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating how an exemplary producttargeting method is implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, triggers 100 for aparticular financial product are identified. The financial product maybe, for example and without limitation, a high status card, a card witha special rewards program (such as a card linked to an education savingsaccount), or a card with special benefits (such as reduced-fee cards forfamily members). Triggers 100 may be determined based on the spendpatterns of customers who have recently converted to the particularfinancial product. To determine triggers for transactional cards, forexample, the affinity level for users of a given card product (such asan American Express® Blue card or an American Express® Platinum card) toa given merchant can be identified. Additionally, the records of thosewho recently converted to the given card product can be analyzed todetermine a product conversion rate for customers shopping at the givenmerchant. Purchases made at the merchant are thus triggers for the givencard product. Such a process for determining triggers will be describedin further detail with respect to FIG. 2.

Additionally, customer data 102 is analyzed to determine spend patterns104 of potential converters to the particular financial card product.Spend patterns 104 of potential converters are analyzed with respect totriggers 100 to identify consumers 106 who have spend patterns that mostclosely match triggers 100. Since the spend patterns of triggeredpopulation 106 are similar to recent converters, it is likely thatconsumers 106 would also be interested in the product. Consumers 106 arethus included in a triggered population 108. Triggered population 108 iscompared to a list 110 of the population eligible to receive an offerfor the product. Members of triggered population 108 who are eligiblefor the product offer are input into a final list of consumers 112 whoshould be targeted with offers related to the product. Consumers 112 arethen targeted with offers to convert to the financial product via, forexample and without limitation, direct mail 114, telemarketing calls116, and/or Internet notices 118. Identifying in this manner theconsumers who are most likely in need of the new financial productresults in a higher response rate than with targeting methods previouslyused.

One example of an offer that may be extended to eligible customers is anoffer for a higher status transaction card. An individual may alreadyhave a regular transaction card (e.g., American Express® Blue) with atransaction account company. However, the transaction account companymay offer a higher status card (e.g, American Express® Platinum) thathas a higher cost but offers more perks to the card holder. Such ahigher status card will be referred to herein as an “elite card,” whilethe lower status card will be referred to herein as a “regular card.”Upgrade offers are used to encourage regular card holders to switch toelite card products. Targeting upgrade offers only to those regular cardholders having a high likelihood of response results in reduced cost tothe transaction card company.

Another example of an offer that may be extended to eligible customersis an offer for supplemental cards linked to existing transactionaccounts. An individual may already have a transaction card with atransaction account company. However, other people (e.g., familymembers) use the individual's card on a regular basis. Targetingindividuals who share their card with others with an offer to add asupplemental card to their account also results in a higher likelihoodof response and reduced cost to the transaction card company.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example method 200 for targeting customers for agiven card product (such as an elite card upgrade or a supplemental cardfor an existing transaction card account). As illustrated in FIG. 7,there is a high correlation between purchases made by existingcardholders and consumers who convert to a given card product, so theconversion rates of particular merchants can be used to determineproduct affinity within industry categories. So, returning to FIG. 2, instep 202 the records of recent converters to the given card product areanalyzed to identify merchants that are commonly visited by theconverters. Supplemental card spend may also be analyzed.

In step 204, a shortlist of potentially premium merchants is created.This shortlist may include, for example, merchants associated with ahigh percentage of converters to the given card product.

In step 206, this shortlist is analyzed to determine the volume of totaltransactors (e.g., customers making purchases) for each merchant thatconvert to the given card in a given time period (e.g., three months)following the transaction. A “take rate” is calculated based on thisanalysis. The take rate is the percentage of offerees who actuallyaccept a product offer.

In step 208, premium merchants for the card product are selected usingvarious take rate cut-offs.

In step 210, the premium merchants are grouped into most viable industrytypes based on the value proposition of the card product. For example,consumers purchasing in the fine dining industry are more likely toconvert to an elite card, while consumers purchasing in the fast foodindustry are more likely to accept an offer for a regular card.Similarly, consumers purchasing in the women's clothing industry and theclub/resort industry are more likely to convert to an elite card, whileconsumers purchasing in the supermarket industry are more likely toaccept an offer for a regular card. Viable industry types for an elitecard indicator thus include the fine dining, women's clothing, andclub/resort industries, while viable industry types for a regular cardindicator include the fast food and supermarket industries.

In step 212, for each viable industry type, different thresholds andfrequencies for spend of recent converters are analyzed to determine atypical spend pattern (the trigger) for converters to the card product.Various triggers will now be discussed.

One type of elite card upgrade trigger targets individuals based ontheir retail transactions. One example retail trigger is a niche retailtrigger. The niche retail trigger identifies individuals who make apurchase above a given amount (e.g., $500) at select jewelry stores, artdealers, antique stores, etc., such as Bulgari S.p.A, headquartered inRome, Italy; Tiffany & Co., headquartered in New York, N.Y.; or ParkWest Gallery, headquartered in Southfield, Mich. As previouslymentioned, a take rate is the percentage of individuals who accepted acard upgrade offer within a given time (e.g., three months) after makinga particular transaction. An example take rate for transactors at nicheretailers is approximately 1.17%. Another example retail trigger is ahigh end retail trigger. The high end retail trigger identifiesindividuals who visit select high end boutiques, such as Neiman Marcus,Inc., headquartered in Dallas, Tex.; Louis Vuitton SA, headquartered inParis, France; LaCoste, headquartered in Paris, France; or BrooksBrothers, headquartered in New York, N.Y., more than once in a giventime period (e.g., one month). An example take rate for transactors athigh end retailers is approximately 1.03%.

Another type of elite card upgrade trigger targets individuals based ontheir leisure activities. An example leisure activity trigger is agolf/ski/spa trigger. This trigger identifies individuals who areinvolved in luxury sports and leisure that are often associated with theaffluent. An example take rate for such transactors is approximately0.99%. Another example leisure activity trigger is a fine diningtrigger. The fine dining trigger identifies individuals who visit selectfine restaurants, such as Ruth's Chris Steak House, Inc., headquarteredin Heathrow, Fla.; or The French Gourmet of San Diego, Calif.. Anexample take rate for transactors at fine restaurants is approximately0.89%.

Travel and high value record of charge (“ROC”) triggers are other typesof elite card upgrade triggers. An example travel trigger is a luxurytravel and stay trigger. The luxury travel and stay trigger identifiesindividuals who travel first class on airlines, travel on cruises,and/or stay at select fine hotels, such as hotels by MarriottInternational, Inc. of Bethesda, Md.. An example take rate fortransactors who spend on luxury travel and stay is approximately 1.21%.Another example travel trigger is a frequent travel trigger. Thefrequent travel trigger targets individuals who fly a certain number oftimes in a given time period (e.g., more than two flights in a month).An example take rate for transactors who frequently spend on travel isapproximately 0.69%. A high value ROC trigger identifies individuals whomake purchases greater than a given amount at any location (e.g.,greater than $1000). This trigger targets people who may not be includedin other triggers, but who appear to be affluent based on the amount oftheir purchases. An example take rate for high value ROC transactors isapproximately 0.66%.

Targeting individuals in these example categories allows a transactionalcard company to increase the number of individuals eligible for an eliteupgrade offer, while maintaining a high take rate for the upgrade.

In addition to the triggers that target cardmembers in need of a productupgrade, “life event” triggers indicate that a cardmember may be in needof a new or supplementary card product to meet new needs resulting fromthe life event. Spend patterns of the eligible population may becompared to their historical spend patterns to identify changes in spendpatterns (the triggers), and to estimate what life event is mostpossibly associated with the pattern. The life event triggers indicatenot only a higher need for the new or supplementary card product so asto target a higher response rate population, but also enables morecustomized product targeting based on the life event most closelycaptured by the spend pattern change. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustratingexemplary triggers for several life events. A basic cardmember 802 mayundergo one or more life events 804. Example life events include, forexample and without limitation, the presence of extended family, arecent marriage or significant other, the birth of a child, and a childgoing off to college. Each of life events 804 can be identified by atrigger 806. That is, each life even 804 can be associated with acorresponding change in spend pattern by cardmember 802. Each of lifeevents 804 will now be discussed in turn.

Detecting the presence of extended family assumes that when the analysisbegins, some people already have a family, and so their spend pattern isalready set to include the family. Therefore, there are not anysignificant and/or sudden changes in spend pattern. This trigger matchescard member last names and first names to the name information obtainedfrom, for example, airline ticketing information. Any tickets purchasedfor a passenger using an existing cardmember's transaction card, whereinthe passenger has the same last name as the cardmember but a differentfirst name, indicates presence of close relatives such as parents andsiblings. Since other people utilize the cardmember's account, thecardmember is likely to benefit from a supplementary card and is thustargeted for a supplementary card offer. An example overall take ratefor supplementary card offers to cardmembers with extended family isapproximately 0.80%, with an example take rate for supplementary chargecards being approximately 0.83% and an example take rate forsupplementary lending cards being approximately 0.75%.

Cardmembers who have college or education ROCs likely have childrengoing to college. These cardmembers may be in need of a supplementarycard for those children, and can be targeted accordingly. An exampleoverall take rate for supplementary card offers to cardmembers withchildren attending college is 0.95%, with an example take rate forcharge cards being 1.08% and an example take rate for lending cardsbeing 0.83%.

Additions to households in the form of marriage or children show up inthe form of current spend deviations from historical spend, and in theform of shift in spend pattern towards purchases typical of people withfamilies and companions. For instance, the presence of a recent marriageor significant other can be determined in various ways.

In a first example, the records of all merchants are reviewed, and foreach merchant the total number of male and female cardmembers makingtransactions at the merchant in a given period of time is calculated.Each merchant is then given a ratio for (female customers/totalcustomers) transacting and (male customers/total customers) transactingat the merchant. Merchants who have more than 80% of transactions beingmade by one gender are identified as skewed merchants. Then, acardmember whose card is used to make a transaction at a merchant skewedtowards the opposite gender is identified as a possible supplementarycard taker. That is, if a card belonging to a male cardmember is used tomake a transaction at a merchant that caters to females, then there is ahigh probability that the card is being used by the cardmember'sgirlfriend or spouse. This identifies a possible need by the cardmemberfor a supplementary card, and targeted offers for a supplementary cardcan be made to that cardmember. An example overall take rate forsupplementary card offers to cardmembers who are married or have asignificant other is approximately 1.39%, with an example take rate forcharge cards being approximately 1.48% and an example take rate forlending cards being approximately 1.27%.

In a second example, airline ticketing data is analyzed to identify samecard purchases for travel on the same date and issued together to thesame locations. Such attributes indicate companion ticketing. Then,looking at merchants that can be clubbed into timeshare, resorts, andtravel agents categories and using the take rate criterion utilized forthe elite card upgrade triggers, a list of merchants having travelpackages geared towards couples and/or family can be created.Individuals who shop at those merchants likely have spouses orsignificant others, and may thus be in need of a supplementary card. Anexample overall take rate for supplementary card offers to individualswho spend on companion ticketing and/or timeshare packages isapproximately 1.12%, with an example take rate for charge cards beingapproximately 1.16% and an example take rate for lending cards beingapproximately 1.06%.

Additional indicators of family are determined by first looking atmerchants that have a high probability of being visited by existingsupplementary cardmembers. These primarily occupy categories such ashome improvement and entertainment. Spend and count thresholds for spendat these categories are used to come up with a typical spend pattern forthe higher take rate population. Then, time series data is reviewed tocome up with indicators for additions to the family in the form of, forexample, birth of a child. For this example, the historical spend (e.g.,spend over the previous six months) is compared to spend in the currentmonth at toy stores and children's-only clothing stores. If the ratio isa significant value (e.g., if the current month shows three or moretimes the amount of purchases as in previous months) then it indicateswith a high probability the presence of a newborn. The ratio requirementtakes care of the scenario where an individual has made minor purchasesin the past for a friend or relative's child. Time series data can alsobe used to compare the everyday spend amount (spend in grocery stores,department stores, and other types of spend that are regular purchases)in the current month to spend in the previous months. If the pattern ofspend in the current month is significantly different (in that it issubstantially higher), which is determined using a statistically derivedcutoff, it can be inferred that the card member now has a family or anaddition to the family.

Other indicators of family include consistent spend at familyrestaurants and family clothing stores (e.g., making purchases in thesecategories at least twice in a month), significant spend on homeimprovements (e.g., more than $300 a month), and consistent spend onentertainment such as cinema and operas (e.g., at least once per month).An example take rate for supplementary card offers to cardmembers havingadditions to the family is approximately 0.95%, with an example takerate for charge cards being approximately 0.98% and an example take ratefor lending cards being approximately 0.92%.

FIG. 3 is a chart detailing the logic behind the triggers for life eventindicators. FIG. 3 plots the cardmember's current spend against theaverage spend in the cardmember's history. Cardmembers who accepted asupplementary card offer are distinguished from cardmembers who did notaccept a supplementary card offer. As shown, supplementary card takershave a higher deviation in current spend compared to their historicalaverage than non-takers. This can be used to identify thresholds fordetermining when a life event occurs for a cardmember. For example, alife event threshold may be set to trigger when the cardmember's currentevery day spend (“EDS”) is greater than the cardmember's average spendin the last six months, added to two times the standard deviation.Similarly, a life event threshold indicating an addition to the familymay be set to trigger when the cardmember's spend on insurance in thecurrent month is greater than two times the cardmember's average spendon insurance in the previous six months.

Other information besides the occurrence of a life event can also beused to trigger cardmembers in need of additional card products. Non-ROCinformation can be used to target members of the residual population ofcardmembers who are likely in need of a supplementary card. For example,new cardmembers or cardmembers who recently changed their address may beresponsive to a supplementary card offer. An example overall take ratefor supplementary card offers to these residual cardmembers isapproximately 0.88%, with an example take rate for charge cards beingapproximately 1.13% and an example take rate for lending cards beingapproximately 0.77%.

The age of the cardmember is also a factor in the take rate ofsupplementary charge card offers. FIGS. 4A through 4D are charts showingthe supplementary charge card take rate for various age ranges in eachof the trigger categories. In each chart, the age range is listed on thehorizontal axis. The left vertical axis indicates the total spend volumeusing charge cards, while the right vertical axis indicates the chargecard take rate. FIG. 4A illustrates the volumes and take rates for theextended family trigger. FIG. 4B illustrates the volumes and take ratesfor the education ROC trigger. FIG. 4C illustrates the volumes and takerates for the family indicator trigger, and FIG. 4D illustrates thevolumes and take rates for the spend by opposite gender trigger.

Similarly, the age of the cardmember is a factor in the take rate ofsupplementary lending card offers. FIGS. 5A through 5D are chartsshowing the supplementary lending card take rate for various age rangesin each of the trigger categories. In each chart, the age range islisted on the horizontal axis. The left vertical axis indicates thetotal spend volume using lending cards, while the right vertical axisindicates the lending card take rate. FIG. 5A illustrates the volumesand take rates for the extended family trigger. FIG. 5B illustrates thevolumes and take rates for the education ROC trigger. FIG. 5Cillustrates the volumes and take rates for the family indicator trigger,and FIG. 5D illustrates the volumes and take rates for the spend byopposite gender trigger.

Returning to FIG. 2, after the triggers are identified in step 212,method 200 proceeds to step 214. In step 214, potential converters whosespend patterns most closely conform to the trigger are identified.

In step 216, customized marketing is created to target the potentialconverters based on the trigger.

III. Example Implementations

The present invention may be implemented using hardware, software or acombination thereof and may be implemented in one or more computersystems or other processing systems. However, the manipulationsperformed by the present invention were often referred to in terms, suchas adding or comparing, which are commonly associated with mentaloperations performed by a human operator. No such capability of a humanoperator is necessary, or desirable in most cases, in any of theoperations described herein which form part of the present invention.Rather, the operations are machine operations. Useful machines forperforming the operation of the present invention include generalpurpose digital computers or similar devices.

In fact, in one embodiment, the invention is directed toward one or morecomputer systems capable of carrying out the functionality describedherein. An example of a computer system 600 is shown in FIG. 6.

The computer system 600 includes one or more processors, such asprocessor 604. The processor 604 is connected to a communicationinfrastructure 606 (e.g., a communications bus, cross-over bar, ornetwork). Various software embodiments are described in terms of thisexemplary computer system. After reading this description, it willbecome apparent to a person skilled in the relevant art(s) how toimplement the invention using other computer systems and/orarchitectures.

Computer system 600 can include a display interface 602 that forwardsgraphics, text, and other data from the communication infrastructure 606(or from a frame buffer not shown) for display on the display unit 630.

Computer system 600 also includes a main memory 608, preferably randomaccess memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory 610. Thesecondary memory 610 may include, for example, a hard disk drive 612and/or a removable storage drive 614, representing a floppy disk drive,a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, etc. The removable storagedrive 614 reads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit 618 in awell known manner. Removable storage unit 618 represents a floppy disk,magnetic tape, optical disk, etc. which is read by and written to byremovable storage drive 614. As will be appreciated, the removablestorage unit 618 includes a computer usable storage medium having storedtherein computer software and/or data.

In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 610 may include othersimilar devices for allowing computer programs or other instructions tobe loaded into computer system 600. Such devices may include, forexample, a removable storage unit 618 and an interface 620. Examples ofsuch may include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such asthat found in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as anerasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), or programmable readonly memory (PROM)) and associated socket, and other removable storageunits 618 and interfaces 620, which allow software and data to betransferred from the removable storage unit 618 to computer system 600.

Computer system 600 may also include a communications interface 624.Communications interface 624 allows software and data to be transferredbetween computer system 600 and external devices. Examples ofcommunications interface 624 may include a modem, a network interface(such as an Ethernet card), a communications port, a Personal ComputerMemory Card International Association (PCMCIA) slot and card, etc.Software and data transferred via communications interface 624 are inthe form of signals 628 which may be electronic, electromagnetic,optical or other signals capable of being received by communicationsinterface 624. These signals 628 are provided to communicationsinterface 624 via a communications path (e.g., channel) 626. Thischannel 626 carries signals 628 and may be implemented using wire orcable, fiber optics, a telephone line, a cellular link, a radiofrequency (RF) link and other communications channels.

In this document, the terms “computer program medium” and “computerusable medium” are used to generally refer to media such as removablestorage drive 614, a hard disk installed in hard disk drive 612, andsignals 628. These computer program products provide software tocomputer system 600. The invention is directed to such computer programproducts.

Computer programs (also referred to as computer control logic) arestored in main memory 608 and/or secondary memory 610. Computer programsmay also be received via communications interface 624. Such computerprograms, when executed, enable the computer system 600 to perform thefeatures of the present invention, as discussed herein. In particular,the computer programs, when executed, enable the processor 604 toperform the features of the present invention. Accordingly, suchcomputer programs represent controllers of the computer system 600.

In an embodiment where the invention is implemented using software, thesoftware may be stored in a computer program product and loaded intocomputer system 600 using removable storage drive 614, hard drive 612 orcommunications interface 624. The control logic (software), whenexecuted by the processor 604, causes the processor 604 to perform thefunctions of the invention as described herein.

In another embodiment, the invention is implemented primarily inhardware using, for example, hardware components such as applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs). Implementation of the hardwarestate machine so as to perform the functions described herein will beapparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s).

In yet another embodiment, the invention is implemented using acombination of both hardware and software.

IV. Conclusion

While various embodiments of the present invention have been describedabove, it should be understood that they have been presented by way ofexample, and not limitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled inthe relevant art(s) that various changes in form and detail can be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Thus, the present invention should not be limited by any ofthe above described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only inaccordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

In addition, it should be understood that the figures and screen shotsillustrated in the attachments, which highlight the functionality andadvantages of the present invention, are presented for example purposesonly. The architecture of the present invention is sufficiently flexibleand configurable, such that it may be utilized (and navigated) in waysother than that shown in the accompanying figures.

Further, the purpose of the foregoing Abstract is to enable the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially thescientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiarwith patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from acursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure ofthe application. The Abstract is not intended to be limiting as to thescope of the present invention in any way.

1. A method comprising: determining, by a computer-based system fortargeted marketing, that a merchant is a potential premium merchant;identifying, by the computer-based system, an industry group associatedwith the potential premium merchant; grouping, by the computer-basedsystem, the potential premium merchant into a group of potential premiummerchants based on a value proposition associated with each potentialpremium merchant; identifying, by the computer-based system, a pluralityof transaction account holders having a typical pattern of spendingwithin the industry group of the potential premium merchant;identifying, by the computer-based system, a potential converter havinga similar spending pattern with the typical pattern of spending withinthe industry group and the potential premium merchant group; andtargeting, by the computer-based system, marketing about an upgradedtransaction account product to the potential converter.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the determining that the merchant is a potentialpremium merchant comprises identifying that the merchant is commonlyvisited by customers who have converted to an upgraded transactionaccount product based upon a number of transaction accounts that areupgraded after being used to make a purchase at the merchant.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the identifying the plurality of transactionaccount holders having a typical pattern of spending comprises analyzingspend records of the plurality of transaction account holders, wherein atypical pattern of spending comprises a spending pattern that is sharedby the plurality of transaction account holders.
 4. The method of claim1, wherein the customers who have converted to the upgraded transactionaccount product have done so within an interval of three months.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the industry group is at least one of: nicheretail, high-end retail, fine dining, luxury travel, and leisure.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the upgraded transaction account product isan elite transaction account product.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising calculating, by the computer-based system, a take rate foreach potential premium merchant.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising grouping, by the computer-based system, a plurality ofpotential converters into an industry group.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the industry group is at least one of: niche retail, high-endretail, fine dining, luxury travel, and leisure.
 10. The method of claim8, further comprising identifying, by the computer-based system, anaffinity of customers for the industry group.
 11. The method of claim 8,further comprising deriving, by the computer-based system, a conversionrate of transaction accounts in the industry group.
 12. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the typical pattern of spending includes a triggerindicative of a change in lifestyle.
 13. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising identifying recent converters having the similar spendpattern.
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifyingrecent converters having the similar spend pattern and with a triggerthat is indicative of a change in lifestyle.
 15. The method of claim 1,further comprising identifying changes in the typical pattern ofspending.
 16. The method of claim 1, further comprising targeting thepotential converter with an offer to add a supplemental account to anexisting account associated with a financial company.
 17. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the trigger is at least one of: an increase ineducation records of charge; an increase in spend in family-relatedindustries; an increase in every day spend; an increase in spend oninsurance; and existence of purchases at a merchant who traditionallycaters to a gender opposite that of the potential converter.
 18. Anarticle of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computerreadable medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response toexecution by a computer-based system for targeted marketing, cause thecomputer-based system to perform operations comprising: determining, bythe computer-based system, that a merchant is a potential premiummerchant; identifying, by the computer-based system, an industry groupassociated with the potential premium merchant; grouping, by thecomputer-based system, the potential premium merchant into a group ofpotential premium merchants based on a value proposition associated witheach potential premium merchant; identifying, by the computer-basedsystem, a plurality of transaction account holders having a typicalpattern of spending within the industry group of the potential premiummerchant; identifying, by the computer-based system, a potentialconverter having a similar spending pattern with the typical pattern ofspending within the industry group and the potential premium merchantgroup; and targeting, by the computer-based system, marketing about anupgraded transaction account product to the potential converter.
 19. Asystem comprising: a tangible, non-transitory memory communicating witha processor for targeted marketing, the tangible, non-transitory memoryhaving instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by theprocessor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:determining, by the processor, that a merchant is a potential premiummerchant; identifying, by the processor, an industry group associatedwith the potential premium merchant; grouping, by the processor, thepotential premium merchant into a group of potential premium merchantsbased on a value proposition associated with each potential premiummerchant; identifying, by the processor, a plurality of transactionaccount holders having a typical pattern of spending within the industrygroup of the potential premium merchant; identifying, by the processor,a potential converter having a similar spending pattern with the typicalpattern of spending within the industry group and the potential premiummerchant group; and targeting, by the processor, marketing about anupgraded transaction account product to the potential converter.